


Bear Necessities

by TheFreakWithTheWings



Series: Mama Bear [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Animal Transformation, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-12 13:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7104814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFreakWithTheWings/pseuds/TheFreakWithTheWings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With a great deal of assistance from Ahsoka, Vader tracks down Obi-Wan, Padmé, and the twins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Anger drove Vader during his first year of searching. However, it quickly turned to desperation when he went three months with a single lead. That desperation drove him for another year, a need to be with his family: Padmé, their children, even Obi-Wan.

He started systematically searching all the planets of the Outer Rim halfway through the second year, figuring that they wouldn’t hide in any other areas of the galaxy. Except Tatooine. He avoided Tatooine, unwilling to step foot on the planet where his mother died.

He was searching the planet Lothal when a wary call of “Skyguy?” stopped him in his tracks.

He turned. Ahsoka was standing in the doorway of a nearby home, staring at him with shock and wariness on her face. She was taller than he remembered, her lekku and montrals longer, and the blue stripes had begun to acquire a jagged pattern. She wasn’t wearing the akul-tooth headdress he remembered.

“Ahsoka. What are you doing on Lothal?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s good to see you too, Anakin. Or is it Darth Vader now?”

He reflexively checked to make sure no one was listening, then stalked over to her, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Keep your voice down,” he hissed. 

“Relax, will you. The Empire doesn’t have much of a presence in the Outer Rim, and no one cares about Lothal,” Ahsoka said.

“Then why are you here?” Vader asked.

Ahsoka raised one marking and crossed her arms over her chest. “I could ask you the same question.”

“I’m looking for Padmé and Obi-Wan.”

“And I’m guessing the fact that you Fell makes them really eager to be found,” Ahsoka snorted.

Vader narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to try and kill me? It’s what a Jedi would do.”

Ahsoka burst into laughter. “I’m not a Jedi, and even if I were, I’ve got more important things to do.”

“You’re a Rebel,” Vader suddenly realized.

“Yeah, and as far as the Empire is concerned, so are you,” Ahsoka shot back.

“You know where they are,” he growled, ignoring her previous statement as his anger kindling to life.

Ahsoka looked unimpressed. “If they wanted you to find them, then you would have.”

She turned to leave, but Vader grabbed her shoulder. He couldn’t just let her leave.

“I still consider you family, Ahsoka, even though you left -”

Ahsoka knocked his hand off of her shoulder and glared back at him. “I _had_ to leave. I couldn’t take the risk that I would Fall like Krell, or Barriss, or so many others, especially after the Order turned their backs on me. I didn’t want to be what you’ve become.”

Vader suppressed a flinch, then pushed on. “The Dark side is so much more powerful than the Light, Ahsoka. If you could just try it, just once, you’d see.”

“You sound like an addict.” Her words were sharp as a vibroblade.

“I _need_ to find them. Please, Ahsoka, I’m begging you,” Vader said, almost pleading.

Her eyes widened. “You Fell for them, or because of them.”

The Force rang with the truth of her statement.

“You did! Force, how could you think that they would _ever_ want you to do that?” she asked, incredulously resting her forehead on one of her hands.

“I would have done it if I thought it was the only way to save you from dying too,” Anakin muttered, looking down.

Ahsoka sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“Please. Padmé was pregnant.” He was about ready to get down on his knees.

“We will be taking my ship, and I will accompany you at all times,” Ahsoka said firmly. “Or I won’t tell you anything.”

“Yes, yes, thank you, thank you so much, Snips,” he almost sobbed, sweeping her into a hug. The sense of relief he felt knowing that he had almost caught up with Obi-Wan and Padmé was staggering.

Ahsoka shrugged out of the hug, evidently still a little upset with him, and began walking away.

“Come on,” she called back over her shoulder when he didn’t move. “My ship’s this way.”

0o0o0

“Are you serious?” he asked incredulously, staring at the coordinates Ahsoka had put in the navcomputer. “Obi-Wan and Padmé are on Tatooine?”

Ahsoka nodded absently as she carefully steered the ship out of Lothal’s atmosphere. “Yup. Obi-Wan has family there, apparently, so they’ve been staying with them since the Republic fell.”

He felt like banging his head against the nearest flat surface. The only planet on the Outer Rim he hadn’t wanted to search was where they chose to stay. And how had he never known that Obi-Wan had family on Tatooine? How did Ahsoka even know about Obi-Wan’s secret family?

When he asked her that question, Ahsoka just shrugged and said “I asked.”

He could feel some of his hold over his temper fracturing. It had been difficult for him to learn to keep a grip on it after he Fell. 

He didn’t say anything when she typed up and sent off a message just before they jumped into hyperspace, almost positive that she was communicating with the Rebellion.

Eventually, though, the silence grew too oppressive, and he had to say something. 

“So… what have you been doing since you left the Order?”

She stared at him for a quiet moment before she replied. “Helping people. The Empire’s still weak; it’s easy to slip by unnoticed.”

“Ah,” he said, not entirely sure how to respond.

They sank back into silence, unsure of what to say to each other.

0o0o0

He began to feel a horrible sense of deja vu when Ahsoka set the ship down by a farmhouse that had haunted his nightmares.

“Obi-Wan is related to the Lars’?” Anakin asked.

“You know them?”

He pushed past her, exiting the ship. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

As soon as he set foot on Tatooine, he knew. Obi-Wan, Padmé, his children, _none of them_ were here. Ahsoka had _lied to him._

Vader could feel his anger rising, his eyes beginning to burn with the force of it. His fragile restraint had been fraying since he learned that they would be going to Tatooine, and now it had snapped. Someone was going to _pay_.


	2. Chapter 2

Ahsoka had a moment of warning from the Force before she heard the sound of a lightsaber igniting. She began to reach for her own lightsabers, but froze when she felt the burn of a ‘saber blade near her neck.

“You lied to me,” Anakin snarled, glaring at her with fiery yellow eyes.

Ahsoka slowly raised her arms up by her head to show that she wasn’t a threat. “I didn’t lie about anything.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know? That I wouldn’t be able to tell as soon as we got here that they _aren’t here_?” he continued, as if she hadn’t said anything.

“Anakin, calm down!” Ahsoka shouted. It was absolutely the wrong thing to say, but she was past caring. If Obi-Wan and Padmé were gone, then something bad had happened. “They should be here, and if they aren’t then something’s happened to them. We don’t have time for your dramatics!”

“I am completely calm!” Anakin yelled back before he froze, drawing his lightsaber away from her neck. “Wait, what are you-”

That opening was all she needed. Ahsoka called her lightsabers to her hands and had both of them ignited in a defensive position before he could get another word out.

They stared at each other above the glowing blades of their lightsabers, tensed and ready to move at a second’s notice. Neither of them moved. All was silent, the Force stilled in anticipation.

The sudden beeping of Ahsoka’s comm broke the tension, Anakin extinguishing his lightsaber first.

“Are you going to attack me once I turn my back?” Ahsoka asked warily.

Anakin shook his head. “It might be news about them.”

She didn’t take her eyes off of him as she turned off both of her lightsabers and clipped them to her belt then made her way over to answer the comm.

“I flew past a yellow star on my way home,” Ahsoka said, the code phrase indicating that she had company.

A spinning image of the Alliance symbol appeared. “Did it have three planets or four?” a deep voice asked.

Ahsoka couldn’t keep the slight smile from edging onto her face. “Only one planet. It’s good to hear from you, Ben.”

“I didn’t get your message until we were already off planet,” Obi-Wan said. “Otherwise we would have been there to greet you.”

“What happened? I thought the plan was to stay here for five years before joining back up with the rest of the Alliance?” Ahsoka asked, ignoring Anakin’s questioning looks.

“We ran into a little trouble with Jabba. Apparently there’s a bounty on Force sensitive children,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin growled and the Force grew cold with the strength of his anger.

“No need to worry, though,” Obi-Wan continued. “River and I took care of it.”

“Who’s River?” Anakin asked.

Ahsoka ignored him. “Glad to hear everything’s okay. Do you have a location in mind for a meet-up? I have a guest who needs to see you and River.”

There was a pause, and then “We’ll be on Alderaan in a week. I’ll send you more details in two days.”

“Alderaan in a week,” Ahsoka repeated. “Fulcrum out.”

She closed the connection and leaned back into the wall with a sigh.

“Thank you,” Anakin said quietly, dropping his gaze to the floor.

Ahsoka sighed again, heavier this time. “Just don’t attack me again.”

She pushed off of the wall and walked out of her ship to go and reassure the Lars that everything was alright, almost missing the whispered “Sorry,” from Anakin.

0o0o0

Padmé sat on her bed and pulled her hair back into a single braid that lay flat against her back, letting the feeling of her hair flowing through her fingers banish some of her nerves.

It was just Anakin. She was just going to see Anakin for the first time in three years.

Her brain unhelpfully reminded her that Anakin had helped bring down the Republic, killed so many Jedi, and attacked her. She lost all of the progress she’d made against her nerves by braiding her hair.

“Mama, why does your tummy hurt?” Leia asked, startling Padmé.

She pushed a smile onto her face as she leaned down to pull her daughter into her lap. “I’m nervous, sweetheart.”

Leia tilted her head to the side as she thought about Padmé’s response. “Why?”

Padmé bit back the urge to sigh. ‘Why’ had become Leia’s favorite word ever since they left Tatooine. “Because I’m going to meet someone that I haven’t seen in awhile very soon.”

“Oh,” Leia said, seeming to accept that answer. “Will you braid my hair like yours, Mama?”

“Of course, honey,” Padmé replied.

It didn’t take long to braid Leia’s hair - she didn’t have as much of it - but Padmé felt much calmer when she was done.

Obi-Wan stuck his head into the room. “We’ve landed.”

Padmé lifted Leia off of her lap and set her on the floor. “Remember what I told you and Luke? You have to stay on the ship until either I or Obi-Wan comes to get you.”

Leia nodded and scampered off, likely to find Luke.

Padmé pulled in a deep breath, wrapped her calm around herself like a cloak, and let the air escape. She was ready. She let the calmness bleed into confidence. Padmé had gone to her execution with her head held high; she could face her husband.

“Let’s go,” she said.

Obi-Wan nodded and stepped aside, letting her precede him.

She didn’t see him when she walked out of the ship, although she did notice Ahsoka waiting for them.

“Padmé!” Ahsoka exclaimed happily, wrapping her in a tight hug before switching to Obi-Wan. “And Obi-Wan! It’s so good to see you two.”

“You’ve gotten even taller, I see,” Obi-Wan noted.

Ahsoka smirked. “I’m taller than Skyguy now.”

“Speaking of Anakin, where is he?” Padmé asked.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “He’s still back in the ship. He claimed he needed to do some last minute checks on his arm.

“I’ll go get him,” Padmé offered before she could stop herself.

Obi-Wan looked like he wanted to argue, but all he said was “Be careful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter will go up on Friday.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luke's second form is the same as Padmé's.

Padmé was able to keep up her confidence as she walked into Ahsoka’s ship, the hug doing a lot to help her. Ahsoka hadn’t seemed frightened, just exasperated, and she’d called him Skyguy. Maybe he’d been able to let go of the darkness.

Anakin was cleaning up when she stepped into his room, wiping down his workstation with a dirty rag.

He froze when she walked in, his eyes locking with hers. They were blue.

Dueling urges to flee back to the safety of her ship and to run into his arms kept her locked in place. She stared at him, unblinking, as he cautiously stepped towards her as if she was a wild animal about to bolt or tear into him. It was an apt comparison, considering her last encounter with him.

“Padmé,” he whispered reverently, lifting up a hand.

She flinched, the gesture embedded too deeply in her nightmares for her to fully suppress the motion.

Anakin looked like he’d been stabbed.

“I’m sorry, Padmé, Force, I’m so sorry -”

“The others are waiting for us outside,” Padmé said, cutting off his apology. It wasn’t enough, not after everything he’d done, not yet, and if she had to listen to anymore of it she was going to lose her confidence and her calm.

She turned and left, hearing Anakin fall into step behind her.

Padmé had forgiven him not long after the twins were born, unable to hold onto her anger, but she hadn’t forgotten.

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka fell silent when they stepped outside, the weight of words unsaid hanging heavy in the air.

Anakin was the first to move, walking past Padmé and collapsing to his knees at Obi-Wan’s feet.

“Thank you, Master,” he said. “Thank you for saving her from me, thank you.”

A pained look crossed Obi-Wan’s face before he pulled Anakin to his feet.

“I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan said, shocking everyone. “I failed you, Anakin. I failed you so badly that you felt that you could trust Palpatine over me. I would never have been able to kill you like I was asked because I love you. You’re my brother, Anakin.”

Both of them began to cry.

Ahsoka leaned over to Padmé and said in an undertone “I’m going to go see the twins, okay?”

Padmé nodded, and Ahsoka edged her way around Obi-Wan and Anakin, who were now hugging.

Before Ahsoka could slip onto the ship, Leia burst out, shrieking “Mama, Luke’s chasing me!”

Leia ran over and grabbed Padmé’s leg, hiding behind her as Luke came barreling out of the ship in his second form. His fur was sticking up all over, tied with blue ribbons, giving Padmé a hint as to why he was chasing Leia. Luke _hated_ the color blue.

“Leia, you know Luke doesn’t like blue,” Padmé scolded.

“He asked me to do his fur, and that’s the only color of ribbon I could find,” Leia giggled.

Luke ran over and lifted himself onto his hind legs, complaining loudly.

Padmé sighed and pulled the ribbons from Luke’s fur. “I told you to stay in the ship.”

Luke Changed back into his first form, his blue eyes filling with tears. “I’m sorry, Mama.”

Padmé’s eyes widened before she swooped down and picked him up. “No, no sweetie, it’s okay,” she said as she petted his hair, letting him sniffle against her collarbone.

Luke always got very upset whenever he broke one of her rules by accident or through forgetfulness, a trait that Leia didn’t share.

Obi-Wan pulled away from Anakin, shrugging off his robe and handing it to Padmé, who wrapped Luke up in it with her free hand.

Anakin was staring at them in shock.

“Is that them?” he asked, dumbstruck.

Padmé fought back a smile as Leia peeked out from behind her leg at Anakin.

“Mama, who’s that?” she asked.

“That’s your dad,” Padmé responded.

Leia gasped. “Really?”

Luke curled his fists into Obi-Wan’s robe as he peered out from under his fringe at Anakin.

Out of the corner of her eye, Padmé noticed Ahsoka and Obi-Wan sneak onto their ship, but most of her attention was on Leia, Luke, and Anakin.

Leia lifted her chin and boldly approached Anakin. “I’m Leia.”

Anakin knelt down so that he was the same height as her. “It’s very nice to meet you Leia.”

“Do you want to go say hi, Luke?” Padmé asked in a whisper.

Luke nodded, so she set him down on the ground. He wrapped Obi-Wan’s robe around himself and shuffled over to stand next to Leia. He didn’t say anything, just stared at Anakin.

Anakin glanced up at Padmé, then back at the twins. “Hi, Luke, I’m your dad.”

Luke suddenly smiled brightly and then Changed into his second form. Anakin shot Padmé a look of alarm and confusion as Luke jumped up into his lap. Luke was still a cub, so he fit just fine.

Not to be outdone by her brother, Leia wiggled into Anakin’s side for a hug.

Padmé hesitated for only a moment before she joined her family’s group hug.

A tiny ember of hope in her chest flickered to life. Now that her family was safe, the real work could begin.

0o0o0

It took them two months to plan their infiltration of the Imperial Palace, two months that were also occupied with healing emotional wounds and learning how to live with each other again.

When at last the time came, the twins were entrusted to the care of Bail and Breha, who had been instrumental in planning but would not join in the actual assault.

Anakin was the bait, meant to catch Palpatine off guard and grab his attention.

Ahsoka and a squad of clones she’d recruited and dechipped handled the Red Guards.

Obi-Wan was a bluff, meant to attack Palpatine with Anakin and make him think that there wasn’t anyone else lurking in the shadows, that they were throwing everyone they had at him.

Padmé was the knife - or rather, claws - in his back, undetectable in the Force with a modified inhibitor cuff around her paw. She tore off Palpatine’s head while he was distracted with Anakin and Obi-Wan.

The Emperor was dead, and the rebuilding of the galaxy could begin.


End file.
